Thursday, July 8, 2010

Curried Chicken Salad

This is another Ina Gartner recipe. My husband served his mission in Japan and developed a taste for curry. I'm not as crazy about it, but I love this salad. It is really tasty and good. Both times I made it, I left out the raisins, but I think I might try them next time . .. or craisins. I substituted chicken stock for the wine. It makes a little too much dressing, so you could use less mayo and chicken stock and still have plenty.

What is Major Grey's chutney? I had no idea, but asked at the grocery store and was taken not to the jam section, but to the pickle/ barbecue sauce section. Major Grey is a flavor and man, is it good. You use about 1/2 bottle in the recipe. Okay, here's the recipe:

Ingredients

3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on

Olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups good mayonnaise (recommended: Hellman's)

1/3 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup chutney (recommended: Major Grey's)

3 tablespoons curry powder

1 cup medium-diced celery (2 large stalks)

1/4 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts (2 scallions)

1/4 cup raisins

1 cup whole roasted, salted cashews

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub the skin with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin, and dice the chicken into large bite-size pieces.

For the dressing, combine the mayonnaise, wine, chutney, curry powder, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process until smooth.

Combine the chicken with enough dressing to moisten well. Add the celery, scallions, and raisins, and mix well. Refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. Add the cashews and serve at room temperature.